One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant oriental poppies is to look at the USDA zone info for Snowflake.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

Frost tolerance for oriental poppies:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Oriental poppies do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Snowflake is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Snowflake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Snowflake and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Snowflake you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Snowflake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Snowflake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Snowflake.